This is the second to last chapter. I know it's just a continuation of
chapter seven, but once again I felt it was not written well and decided to
make the final battle longer. Sorry, but this is the way I want it. Read
this only of you felt chapter seven was not good enough originally.
Otherwise go to the final chapter. Enjoy!
-Randall Flagg2
Brace yourself! It's going to get ugly! -Sailor Mercury, Sailor Moon
Kagome staggered back to where Sango and Kiyashi were standing, cradling Shippo in her arms. She was relieved that he was back to normal. She didn't know what she would do if they had been forced to kill him. But in the end, her love had made the difference and saved him. As she walked towards her friends, she let out one last sob and gave the fox to Sango.
"Here." Kagome said weakly. "Take care of him. I don't want him getting hurt."
"Alright." the demon hunter said. "I'll protect him." In her arms, Shippo stirred slightly and moaned. His eyes scrunched up for a moment, then relaxed. Sango stroked his head. "Poor thing. He looks like he's having a nightmare."
"Can you blame him after all he's been through?" Kagome asked. Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt somebody hugging her leg. She looked down to see Serenity.
"Thank you so much Kagome-san! It's good to have Shippo back with us!" she exclaimed.
"I'm glad too Serenity-chan. Now we can head home."
"You're not going home without me!" said a familiar voice. They turned to see Inuyasha standing up. He was bloody and his kimono was torn in various places, but he seemed to be alright. "What happened to Shippo?" he asked.
"I healed him. He's back to normal now." Kagome said.
"Kagome, I just want to tell you I'm sorry for what I said to him. I don't know why I did it. I guess I was just mad and needed somebody to take it out on."
"It's alright Inuyasha. When he wakes up you should apologize to him."
"I will Kagome. I promise I will."
"Let us be going then. We must continue our search for the sacred jewel." Miroku said, getting up from the ground. They started to walk off, but the thundering voice of Senjeta stopped them.
"Where do you think your going?!" the coyote bellowed. "We aren't done here yet! Aren't you forgetting about us?!"
Inuyasha flexed his claws. "Why don't you guys just give up? You lose, end of story. Can't you accept that?" he demanded.
"Oh I'm so sorry, but you have no choice but to fight us." Inarki replied. "You see, I told you the only way to escape would be to fight whatever was inside. And since me and my master are still standing, you have no choice but to fight us to escape. Now which one of you would like to go first?"
"I'll go." Kiyashi said. "I have a score to settle with you and your master."
"Very well then woman, I will take you on." Inarki said, stepping forward. "You still haven't forgotten about your children I see!" Kiyashi bared her teeth and readied her katana. These two had taken something dear from her and they would pay with their lives for it.
"Be careful Kiyashi! You don't know what kind of powers he has!" Kagome called. Kiyashi raised her sword and charged.
"Good, I can sense your emotions." Inarki said mentally. "You're intensely angry, but you're also nervous. I can tell. That will make it all the more easy for me." As Kiyashi swung her sword, Inarki ducked to one side and kicked out at her, knocking her back. With an angry snarl, Kiyashi pointed her sword forwards like a spear and charged. Inarki sidestepped again and grabbed the blade with one of his hands. Amazingly no cut marks appeared on his hand.
"You have improved a bit since our last fight I see. Well that will make it all the more fun for me!" Inarki charged energy into his hands. Soon a bright energy ball appeared in his hands. Kiyashi knew what was coming and jumped into the air as the ball of energy was flung at her. It hit the ground instead, creating a massive explosion. Kiyashi saw her opportunity and brought her sword down on her opponent. It shredded Inarki's cloak, only to reveal something shocking. Where his arm should have been, there was absolutely nothing at all!
"Oh maybe I forgot to tell you something! I'm only half demon! The other half of me is of a ghost, and it makes me very difficult to kill!" he exclaimed. Kiyashi gasped. She knew that ghosts were much more dangerous then demons, but she had never seen one until now. Ghosts, unlike demons, could not be defeated in conventional ways. To fight them sometimes meant to risk your own soul, which was why most people simply avoided apparitions. But now there was no turning back. She knew that if Inarki was half ghost, he would be very difficult to damage. But nothing was completely invincible. Everything had to have a weakness. Kiyashi raised her sword and slashed him again, taking another piece of Inarki's cloak.
"Damn you!" she hissed. "I don't know if I can win, but if there is a way to beat you I'll find it!" Just as she started to raise her sword, something happened. Inarki's body glowed red and his body suddenly seemed to melt. Even stranger, it began to reform itself. Kiyashi backed away. She had only enough time to realize that Inarki's body was turning into a large axe just before he chopped at her. She blocked him with her sword, but then felt an excruciating bolt of pain jolt up her leg as his blade shaped body sliced into her ankle. With a scream she doubled over and clutched at her leg.
"Oh yes, I have one more ability. Being half ghost, I can reshape any part of my body into whatever I want. In other words it makes me one giant weapon!" Inarki went back to his normal form and turned his hand into a sword and slashed. Kiyashi jerked back just enough so that she avoided getting split in half, but in turn received a long, jagged slash across her stomach. It wasn't deep enough to pierce her stomach or spill out her vital organs, but it was still deep. The cat demon gave out a harsh grunt and jabbed her sword at Inarki. Inarki's body reformed into a shield and blocked the blow. Kiayhi moaned. How could she defeat an opponent like this?
"I'm surprised you've survived for this long. Normally, my opponents would have died or given up by now, but I guess that stuff isn't in you! Well I can fix that!" Inarki reshaped his hand so it resembled a drill and extended it forward. His arm pierced Kiyashi's chest and stopped just an inch away from her heart.
"I wouldn't move if I were you dear. If I so much as flex the muscles in my arm, I can pierce your heart and kill you. So if you are wise, you'll just stay still." Kiyashi growled deeply at him. "Yes, that's right, bare your teeth at me like an animal. Typical for one like yourself." Suddenly, Kiyashi reached up and seized Inarki's arm. With a mighty shove, she forced his arm out of her chest. Kiyashi got up, bleeding profusely. Even in this state, she would not give up.
"Well, it seems that you are too stupid to know when you're beaten! I can fix that!" Inarki's chest rippled, and then four spikes shot out of it. Much to his surprise, Kiyashi grabbed them and stopped them.
"I'm going to kill you." she whispered. "You had better know I'm going to kill you! I'm going to do it for my children. The one's whose life you stole. I'm going to do it for deceiving Shippo and turning him into a killing machine! I'm going to do it for everything you've done up to now!"
Inarki laughed viciously. "You kill me? That's rich! Only my master has the power to kill me! But I guess you'll just have to learn that the hard way!" Inarki shape shifted into a spear and flew at her. Kiyashi waited until the last second, then swung her sword in a horizontal swing, cleaving him in half. Inarki transformed back into his normal form. Had he had a face, his expression would be one of shock right now.
"How can you have done that?!" he shouted. "Nobody but my master has ever succeeded in hurting me! How can you have ruined me in my transformed state?!" She did not answer. Only glared and readied her sword again. "Of course!" Inarki thought. "It's the power of love! When she's fighting me without thinking of her loved ones, she has no power over me! But when her heart is put into it, she gains the strength to beat me! How could I have missed this?!" Kiyashi charged and swung her sword again, cleaving off part of his hood. Inarki screamed and fell on his back, clutching at where his face should have been. Kiyashi jumped over him and pointed her sword downwards and plunged it into his chest. Inarki screamed again, and then smoke began to billow up from his cloak. Then at last, his cloak fell limply to the ground. There was nothing left of him in it.
Kiyashi re-sheathed her sword and walked back to her friends. "Nice going Kiyashi!" Serenity said. "How did you find a way to hurt him?"
"Well-" she began. Then she stopped in mid sentence. As she began to speak those memories of her children came back. This horrible-
(Mama who are they mama I'm scared oh who are they mama help us they got him oh please help us what is happening no oh no please let me go let me go I don't)
-memories were too much to bear. Kiyashi turned away. "I don't know how. I guess I just don't know my own strength." Serenity frowned, but decided not to ask anymore. Something in the cat's voice was secretly whispering to Serenity that if she knew what was good for her, she would not ask anymore on this subject. So Serenity quieted down and decided not to converse on it anymore.
Across from them, Senjeta had finally reached his breaking point. First his elites had failed him, then Shippo had been turned back to his normal form again, and now Inarki had been defeated!! This could not be! His plan for getting the sacred jewel was ruined! Senjeta's lips wrinkled back around his teeth and a deep growl rose out of his chest. "My right hand man has been struck down. I will not let this pass!" With blinding speed he charged towards his adversaries and stopped in front of them. "You've still got to fight me you know!" he shouted.
Inuyasha rolled up his sleeves and turned to Miroku. "What do you say Miroku? Do you still have enough stamina for one more fight?!"
"Don't even think about asking for assistance Inuyasha! I want to fight you one on one!"
"Fine then! I accept your challenge!" He readied tetsusaiga.
"Be careful Inuyasha!" Kagome called. "He has six jewel fragments in him!"
"Six eh? That would explain why I had so much trouble fighting you last time!" With a roar, he charged. The final battle was on.
Senjeta grabbed Inuyasha's fang just as he had before in their previous bout. Inuyasha jumped up and kicked out with both of his feet, planting them squarely in the coyote's chest. Senjeta fell back and countered with a powerful backhand that knocked Inuyasha down. The coyote jumped into the air and brought his fist slamming into Inuyasha's stomach. The hanyou jumped up in a rage and threw blood claws at Senjeta. He blocked them with his hands and charged again. Inuyasha grabbed Senjeta by his arm as he passed by and slung him onto the floor like a sack of laundry. With speed that Koga would have envied, Senjeta got to his feet and scooped up a handful of dirt.
"What? Your going to throw dirt at me? Pretty childish if you ask me!" Inuyasha exclaimed.
"No exactly half breed! Because of the jewels in my body, I can make these become much more then just dirt!" He flung them at Inuyasha and as the dirt pieces flew at him, they sharpened into points like so many daggers. Inuyasha tried to dodge, but ended up getting sliced by the blades. Senjeta saw his opportunity and kicked his adversary in the stomach. As Inuyasha doubled over, he jumped forward a small bit and slashed with his claws. Senjeta tried to block it and received five slashes across his arm for his troubles. With a snarl, Senjeta punched Inuyasha in the face. Inuyasha brought tetsusaiga in an upwards swing and cut Senjeta across the face. He clapped his hand to his face and backed away screaming. Inuyasha dug into his skin again and flung more blades of blood at him. Senjeta's arms and legs were cut over and over again by the passing storm of blades. Snarling like a rabid animal, Senjeta charged through the blades and dug his arm into the ground again. When it came back out again, it was covered in dirt. With amazing speed, it formed into a sword around his arm. Senjeta drew back his arm and jabbed it at Inuyasha. He grabbed the blade with one hand and brought his claws up in an upwards slash. Senjeta screamed as Inuyasha's claws dug into his face and tore out one of his eyes. Inuyasha grinned. This wasn't as hard as before.
"Come on you mangy corpse eater! I was hoping for something a little more challenging!" Inuyasha taunted. Much to his surprise, Senjeta smirked.
"You think this is the maximum level of my power?" he asked. "If you think that, then you are in for a rude awakening. I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve." Senjeta's eyes glowed red and sand began to erupt from the ground all around him. Soon the sand began to swirl, turning it into a giant dust devil. "You see, coyotes such as myself have always had the ability to control the land and our natural surroundings. Should we have a sacred jewel fragment as well, our abilities become ten times more dangerous. As you can see, my abilities are quite powerful from all the shards I collected. Now let's see how you fare against me!" Senjeta pointed and the mini twister spun towards Inuyasha. He jumped to the side, but was hurled across the battle field as the twister flew past him. He landed in a heap.
"If it can do that just by passing by me, I'd better avoid being hit directly!" he thought. Inuyasha jumped to his feet and jumped as another twister sailed his way. He sprinted forward, darting from side to side as more dust devils sailed his way. Inuyasha was rapidly closing in on his adversary. He was almost within four feet of Senjeta, when he suddenly disappeared. Inuyasha looked behind himself just in time to see the coyote's foot come flying forward and kick him in the side of the head. Inuyasha collapsed to the ground. Senjeta dug his fist into the ground and dug his arm into the ground again, allowing him to create another sword. He drew back his arm to strike when something flew past him. He turned around just in time to see a blur of purple fly past him. He whirled towards Inuyasha's comrades. The girl who had foiled his plan was standing in front of them, bow drawn.
"How can she do that? That was a sacred arrow! The only way she could do such a thing would be if she was the reincarnation of a priestess! Could she be so?" he wondered, unaware that Inuyasha was raising tetsusaiga behind him. He saw the dog demon's shadow just as he started to swing. He narrowly avoided it.
"Not bad scavenger boy! I know how to deal with your stupid sand now, so I guess you're out of luck!" Senjeta was not giving up yet though. He jumped into the air and a yellow aura surrounded his body. Before Inuyasha could react, a circular spinning wall of sand and wind surrounded him. Inuyasha lunged at one of the walls, but was thrown back when he found that the wall was as hard as steel. From outside, Senjeta laughed wickedly.
"How do you like it half breed? This is my ultimate technique! It allows me to move around outside my sand wall unseen and strike without being noticed! It makes fighting me very difficult!" Before Inuyasha could blink, Senjeta darted through the wall and cut him in the shoulder with his claws. Inuyasha kicked out at him, but the coyote leader darted back outside of the sand wall. As he turned around, Senjeta came through again and slashed him in the back. The pattern continued for some time. Senjeta would pop out at him like a jack in the box, attack him, retreat, and then attack again. Inuyasha was getting weak. He had taken too many hits from his battle with Shippo and a few more blows would kill him. There had to be some way to beat him. As he considered his options, a flash of purple pink appeared on the wall and a large hole appeared in it. Inuyasha saw Senjeta dart by, and then stop with shock when he saw his wall had been penetrated. Inuyasha knew what to do now. The wind from the rotating wall would be more then enough for tetsusaiga. He raised his sword up and brought it down with earth shaking force.
"Wind scar!!" he commanded. The ground glowed golden yellow, and then a gigantic blast of golden energy erupted from the earth and shot towards Senjeta.
Senjeta did not see the wind scar coming until it was too late. He turned just in time to see the energy engulf him. "Damn you!!" he screamed, and then he was gone.
When the smoke died down, nothing but a crater was left where Senjeta was standing. Inuyasha sighed. It was all over at last. He walked back to where the others were waiting.
"Is he dead?" Sango asked.
"Yeah, he's gone for good. There's no way he could have survived that. Is Shippo alright?" he asked. Sango nodded. Shippo stirred slightly in her arms, but he did not awaken.
"Are you sure you're alright Inuyasha?" Serenity asked. "You look like you really took a beating!"
"I'm alright Serenity. Don't worry about me." he replied. "I'm just glad we can go home." As if on cue, a portal back to the real world suddenly appeared. Before heading off, Inuyasha turned to Kiyashi. "Hey, thanks for the help. Would you like to stay with us?"
"No." Kiyashi said shaking her head. "I appreciate the offer, but I prefer to go it alone. But I must thank you for the help you've given me. It's good now that I have them out of the way now." Kiyashi jumped through the portal and disappeared into the distance.
"I guess we can go home now. I have to leave you guys too." Serenity said. Inuyasha hugged her.
"Alright then Serenity-chan. I'll see you again." he said. He was unaware that Serenity had taken a scorpion out of her pocket and was reaching down the back of his kimono. Soon enough Inuyasha was screaming and rolling around on the ground, trying to kill whatever was crawling down his back. Serenity giggled wildly as she watched her brother. Inuyasha jumped up and grabbed her up by the tail with a snarl.
"That's it you little brat!! I'm going to make you regret you were ever born!" He drew back his fist, but Serenity broke free of his grip and lunged into the portal. Inuyasha jumped after her, screaming unintelligible words and threats at her as he chased after her. Kagome sighed. Yup, things were back to normal.
Review responses will be in the final chapter, so if you just finished reading this, go to the next chapter now. -Randall Flagg2
Brace yourself! It's going to get ugly! -Sailor Mercury, Sailor Moon
Kagome staggered back to where Sango and Kiyashi were standing, cradling Shippo in her arms. She was relieved that he was back to normal. She didn't know what she would do if they had been forced to kill him. But in the end, her love had made the difference and saved him. As she walked towards her friends, she let out one last sob and gave the fox to Sango.
"Here." Kagome said weakly. "Take care of him. I don't want him getting hurt."
"Alright." the demon hunter said. "I'll protect him." In her arms, Shippo stirred slightly and moaned. His eyes scrunched up for a moment, then relaxed. Sango stroked his head. "Poor thing. He looks like he's having a nightmare."
"Can you blame him after all he's been through?" Kagome asked. Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt somebody hugging her leg. She looked down to see Serenity.
"Thank you so much Kagome-san! It's good to have Shippo back with us!" she exclaimed.
"I'm glad too Serenity-chan. Now we can head home."
"You're not going home without me!" said a familiar voice. They turned to see Inuyasha standing up. He was bloody and his kimono was torn in various places, but he seemed to be alright. "What happened to Shippo?" he asked.
"I healed him. He's back to normal now." Kagome said.
"Kagome, I just want to tell you I'm sorry for what I said to him. I don't know why I did it. I guess I was just mad and needed somebody to take it out on."
"It's alright Inuyasha. When he wakes up you should apologize to him."
"I will Kagome. I promise I will."
"Let us be going then. We must continue our search for the sacred jewel." Miroku said, getting up from the ground. They started to walk off, but the thundering voice of Senjeta stopped them.
"Where do you think your going?!" the coyote bellowed. "We aren't done here yet! Aren't you forgetting about us?!"
Inuyasha flexed his claws. "Why don't you guys just give up? You lose, end of story. Can't you accept that?" he demanded.
"Oh I'm so sorry, but you have no choice but to fight us." Inarki replied. "You see, I told you the only way to escape would be to fight whatever was inside. And since me and my master are still standing, you have no choice but to fight us to escape. Now which one of you would like to go first?"
"I'll go." Kiyashi said. "I have a score to settle with you and your master."
"Very well then woman, I will take you on." Inarki said, stepping forward. "You still haven't forgotten about your children I see!" Kiyashi bared her teeth and readied her katana. These two had taken something dear from her and they would pay with their lives for it.
"Be careful Kiyashi! You don't know what kind of powers he has!" Kagome called. Kiyashi raised her sword and charged.
"Good, I can sense your emotions." Inarki said mentally. "You're intensely angry, but you're also nervous. I can tell. That will make it all the more easy for me." As Kiyashi swung her sword, Inarki ducked to one side and kicked out at her, knocking her back. With an angry snarl, Kiyashi pointed her sword forwards like a spear and charged. Inarki sidestepped again and grabbed the blade with one of his hands. Amazingly no cut marks appeared on his hand.
"You have improved a bit since our last fight I see. Well that will make it all the more fun for me!" Inarki charged energy into his hands. Soon a bright energy ball appeared in his hands. Kiyashi knew what was coming and jumped into the air as the ball of energy was flung at her. It hit the ground instead, creating a massive explosion. Kiyashi saw her opportunity and brought her sword down on her opponent. It shredded Inarki's cloak, only to reveal something shocking. Where his arm should have been, there was absolutely nothing at all!
"Oh maybe I forgot to tell you something! I'm only half demon! The other half of me is of a ghost, and it makes me very difficult to kill!" he exclaimed. Kiyashi gasped. She knew that ghosts were much more dangerous then demons, but she had never seen one until now. Ghosts, unlike demons, could not be defeated in conventional ways. To fight them sometimes meant to risk your own soul, which was why most people simply avoided apparitions. But now there was no turning back. She knew that if Inarki was half ghost, he would be very difficult to damage. But nothing was completely invincible. Everything had to have a weakness. Kiyashi raised her sword and slashed him again, taking another piece of Inarki's cloak.
"Damn you!" she hissed. "I don't know if I can win, but if there is a way to beat you I'll find it!" Just as she started to raise her sword, something happened. Inarki's body glowed red and his body suddenly seemed to melt. Even stranger, it began to reform itself. Kiyashi backed away. She had only enough time to realize that Inarki's body was turning into a large axe just before he chopped at her. She blocked him with her sword, but then felt an excruciating bolt of pain jolt up her leg as his blade shaped body sliced into her ankle. With a scream she doubled over and clutched at her leg.
"Oh yes, I have one more ability. Being half ghost, I can reshape any part of my body into whatever I want. In other words it makes me one giant weapon!" Inarki went back to his normal form and turned his hand into a sword and slashed. Kiyashi jerked back just enough so that she avoided getting split in half, but in turn received a long, jagged slash across her stomach. It wasn't deep enough to pierce her stomach or spill out her vital organs, but it was still deep. The cat demon gave out a harsh grunt and jabbed her sword at Inarki. Inarki's body reformed into a shield and blocked the blow. Kiayhi moaned. How could she defeat an opponent like this?
"I'm surprised you've survived for this long. Normally, my opponents would have died or given up by now, but I guess that stuff isn't in you! Well I can fix that!" Inarki reshaped his hand so it resembled a drill and extended it forward. His arm pierced Kiyashi's chest and stopped just an inch away from her heart.
"I wouldn't move if I were you dear. If I so much as flex the muscles in my arm, I can pierce your heart and kill you. So if you are wise, you'll just stay still." Kiyashi growled deeply at him. "Yes, that's right, bare your teeth at me like an animal. Typical for one like yourself." Suddenly, Kiyashi reached up and seized Inarki's arm. With a mighty shove, she forced his arm out of her chest. Kiyashi got up, bleeding profusely. Even in this state, she would not give up.
"Well, it seems that you are too stupid to know when you're beaten! I can fix that!" Inarki's chest rippled, and then four spikes shot out of it. Much to his surprise, Kiyashi grabbed them and stopped them.
"I'm going to kill you." she whispered. "You had better know I'm going to kill you! I'm going to do it for my children. The one's whose life you stole. I'm going to do it for deceiving Shippo and turning him into a killing machine! I'm going to do it for everything you've done up to now!"
Inarki laughed viciously. "You kill me? That's rich! Only my master has the power to kill me! But I guess you'll just have to learn that the hard way!" Inarki shape shifted into a spear and flew at her. Kiyashi waited until the last second, then swung her sword in a horizontal swing, cleaving him in half. Inarki transformed back into his normal form. Had he had a face, his expression would be one of shock right now.
"How can you have done that?!" he shouted. "Nobody but my master has ever succeeded in hurting me! How can you have ruined me in my transformed state?!" She did not answer. Only glared and readied her sword again. "Of course!" Inarki thought. "It's the power of love! When she's fighting me without thinking of her loved ones, she has no power over me! But when her heart is put into it, she gains the strength to beat me! How could I have missed this?!" Kiyashi charged and swung her sword again, cleaving off part of his hood. Inarki screamed and fell on his back, clutching at where his face should have been. Kiyashi jumped over him and pointed her sword downwards and plunged it into his chest. Inarki screamed again, and then smoke began to billow up from his cloak. Then at last, his cloak fell limply to the ground. There was nothing left of him in it.
Kiyashi re-sheathed her sword and walked back to her friends. "Nice going Kiyashi!" Serenity said. "How did you find a way to hurt him?"
"Well-" she began. Then she stopped in mid sentence. As she began to speak those memories of her children came back. This horrible-
(Mama who are they mama I'm scared oh who are they mama help us they got him oh please help us what is happening no oh no please let me go let me go I don't)
-memories were too much to bear. Kiyashi turned away. "I don't know how. I guess I just don't know my own strength." Serenity frowned, but decided not to ask anymore. Something in the cat's voice was secretly whispering to Serenity that if she knew what was good for her, she would not ask anymore on this subject. So Serenity quieted down and decided not to converse on it anymore.
Across from them, Senjeta had finally reached his breaking point. First his elites had failed him, then Shippo had been turned back to his normal form again, and now Inarki had been defeated!! This could not be! His plan for getting the sacred jewel was ruined! Senjeta's lips wrinkled back around his teeth and a deep growl rose out of his chest. "My right hand man has been struck down. I will not let this pass!" With blinding speed he charged towards his adversaries and stopped in front of them. "You've still got to fight me you know!" he shouted.
Inuyasha rolled up his sleeves and turned to Miroku. "What do you say Miroku? Do you still have enough stamina for one more fight?!"
"Don't even think about asking for assistance Inuyasha! I want to fight you one on one!"
"Fine then! I accept your challenge!" He readied tetsusaiga.
"Be careful Inuyasha!" Kagome called. "He has six jewel fragments in him!"
"Six eh? That would explain why I had so much trouble fighting you last time!" With a roar, he charged. The final battle was on.
Senjeta grabbed Inuyasha's fang just as he had before in their previous bout. Inuyasha jumped up and kicked out with both of his feet, planting them squarely in the coyote's chest. Senjeta fell back and countered with a powerful backhand that knocked Inuyasha down. The coyote jumped into the air and brought his fist slamming into Inuyasha's stomach. The hanyou jumped up in a rage and threw blood claws at Senjeta. He blocked them with his hands and charged again. Inuyasha grabbed Senjeta by his arm as he passed by and slung him onto the floor like a sack of laundry. With speed that Koga would have envied, Senjeta got to his feet and scooped up a handful of dirt.
"What? Your going to throw dirt at me? Pretty childish if you ask me!" Inuyasha exclaimed.
"No exactly half breed! Because of the jewels in my body, I can make these become much more then just dirt!" He flung them at Inuyasha and as the dirt pieces flew at him, they sharpened into points like so many daggers. Inuyasha tried to dodge, but ended up getting sliced by the blades. Senjeta saw his opportunity and kicked his adversary in the stomach. As Inuyasha doubled over, he jumped forward a small bit and slashed with his claws. Senjeta tried to block it and received five slashes across his arm for his troubles. With a snarl, Senjeta punched Inuyasha in the face. Inuyasha brought tetsusaiga in an upwards swing and cut Senjeta across the face. He clapped his hand to his face and backed away screaming. Inuyasha dug into his skin again and flung more blades of blood at him. Senjeta's arms and legs were cut over and over again by the passing storm of blades. Snarling like a rabid animal, Senjeta charged through the blades and dug his arm into the ground again. When it came back out again, it was covered in dirt. With amazing speed, it formed into a sword around his arm. Senjeta drew back his arm and jabbed it at Inuyasha. He grabbed the blade with one hand and brought his claws up in an upwards slash. Senjeta screamed as Inuyasha's claws dug into his face and tore out one of his eyes. Inuyasha grinned. This wasn't as hard as before.
"Come on you mangy corpse eater! I was hoping for something a little more challenging!" Inuyasha taunted. Much to his surprise, Senjeta smirked.
"You think this is the maximum level of my power?" he asked. "If you think that, then you are in for a rude awakening. I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve." Senjeta's eyes glowed red and sand began to erupt from the ground all around him. Soon the sand began to swirl, turning it into a giant dust devil. "You see, coyotes such as myself have always had the ability to control the land and our natural surroundings. Should we have a sacred jewel fragment as well, our abilities become ten times more dangerous. As you can see, my abilities are quite powerful from all the shards I collected. Now let's see how you fare against me!" Senjeta pointed and the mini twister spun towards Inuyasha. He jumped to the side, but was hurled across the battle field as the twister flew past him. He landed in a heap.
"If it can do that just by passing by me, I'd better avoid being hit directly!" he thought. Inuyasha jumped to his feet and jumped as another twister sailed his way. He sprinted forward, darting from side to side as more dust devils sailed his way. Inuyasha was rapidly closing in on his adversary. He was almost within four feet of Senjeta, when he suddenly disappeared. Inuyasha looked behind himself just in time to see the coyote's foot come flying forward and kick him in the side of the head. Inuyasha collapsed to the ground. Senjeta dug his fist into the ground and dug his arm into the ground again, allowing him to create another sword. He drew back his arm to strike when something flew past him. He turned around just in time to see a blur of purple fly past him. He whirled towards Inuyasha's comrades. The girl who had foiled his plan was standing in front of them, bow drawn.
"How can she do that? That was a sacred arrow! The only way she could do such a thing would be if she was the reincarnation of a priestess! Could she be so?" he wondered, unaware that Inuyasha was raising tetsusaiga behind him. He saw the dog demon's shadow just as he started to swing. He narrowly avoided it.
"Not bad scavenger boy! I know how to deal with your stupid sand now, so I guess you're out of luck!" Senjeta was not giving up yet though. He jumped into the air and a yellow aura surrounded his body. Before Inuyasha could react, a circular spinning wall of sand and wind surrounded him. Inuyasha lunged at one of the walls, but was thrown back when he found that the wall was as hard as steel. From outside, Senjeta laughed wickedly.
"How do you like it half breed? This is my ultimate technique! It allows me to move around outside my sand wall unseen and strike without being noticed! It makes fighting me very difficult!" Before Inuyasha could blink, Senjeta darted through the wall and cut him in the shoulder with his claws. Inuyasha kicked out at him, but the coyote leader darted back outside of the sand wall. As he turned around, Senjeta came through again and slashed him in the back. The pattern continued for some time. Senjeta would pop out at him like a jack in the box, attack him, retreat, and then attack again. Inuyasha was getting weak. He had taken too many hits from his battle with Shippo and a few more blows would kill him. There had to be some way to beat him. As he considered his options, a flash of purple pink appeared on the wall and a large hole appeared in it. Inuyasha saw Senjeta dart by, and then stop with shock when he saw his wall had been penetrated. Inuyasha knew what to do now. The wind from the rotating wall would be more then enough for tetsusaiga. He raised his sword up and brought it down with earth shaking force.
"Wind scar!!" he commanded. The ground glowed golden yellow, and then a gigantic blast of golden energy erupted from the earth and shot towards Senjeta.
Senjeta did not see the wind scar coming until it was too late. He turned just in time to see the energy engulf him. "Damn you!!" he screamed, and then he was gone.
When the smoke died down, nothing but a crater was left where Senjeta was standing. Inuyasha sighed. It was all over at last. He walked back to where the others were waiting.
"Is he dead?" Sango asked.
"Yeah, he's gone for good. There's no way he could have survived that. Is Shippo alright?" he asked. Sango nodded. Shippo stirred slightly in her arms, but he did not awaken.
"Are you sure you're alright Inuyasha?" Serenity asked. "You look like you really took a beating!"
"I'm alright Serenity. Don't worry about me." he replied. "I'm just glad we can go home." As if on cue, a portal back to the real world suddenly appeared. Before heading off, Inuyasha turned to Kiyashi. "Hey, thanks for the help. Would you like to stay with us?"
"No." Kiyashi said shaking her head. "I appreciate the offer, but I prefer to go it alone. But I must thank you for the help you've given me. It's good now that I have them out of the way now." Kiyashi jumped through the portal and disappeared into the distance.
"I guess we can go home now. I have to leave you guys too." Serenity said. Inuyasha hugged her.
"Alright then Serenity-chan. I'll see you again." he said. He was unaware that Serenity had taken a scorpion out of her pocket and was reaching down the back of his kimono. Soon enough Inuyasha was screaming and rolling around on the ground, trying to kill whatever was crawling down his back. Serenity giggled wildly as she watched her brother. Inuyasha jumped up and grabbed her up by the tail with a snarl.
"That's it you little brat!! I'm going to make you regret you were ever born!" He drew back his fist, but Serenity broke free of his grip and lunged into the portal. Inuyasha jumped after her, screaming unintelligible words and threats at her as he chased after her. Kagome sighed. Yup, things were back to normal.
Review responses will be in the final chapter, so if you just finished reading this, go to the next chapter now. -Randall Flagg2